COP18 (29/11/12) – Carol Turley, Coordinator at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory talks about the three key impacts on our oceans; warming waters, ocean acidification and de-oxygenation. She describes the oceans as hot, sour and breathless.

She says that while we now understand the chemical impacts of raising CO2 for our oceans, less is known about the impacts this will have on our marine ecosystems. But she does say there is clear evidence that these organisms respond negatively to the increased carbon dioxide.

She says there is a perfect storm approaching – you can not see it, smell it or touch it but we know it is coming, and that it will carry on for tens of thousands of years. She warns that we get a huge amount of services from the oceans, with one billion people depending solely on the oceans for the protein in their diets.

She warns we are at a tipping point and the next 10 to 15 years will be crucial. She calls on politicians in Doha to take positive action on reducing CO2 emissions and also to discuss how communities will be able to adapt to ocean acidification and warming.